2014/01/27

At a London hospital, deaf mother Nadia Hassan gave birth; theinterpreter during the birth was her 12-year old daughter HulusiBati. The family was very angry about it. The hospital saidthere was no time to find a last minute interpreter becauseof the birth complications. The daughter, while knowing basicsign language, was not able to interpret these complicatedmedical words. And even worse, when the mother and the babystayed at the hospital for one week for medical follow ups,the interpreter was not available most of the time.

— HUD allows deaf to live in deaf subsidized housing

The Apache ASL Trails in Arizona, subsidized by the Housingand Urban Development, is now allowed to have 100 percent deafresidents. This was always the goal of the Apache ASL Trails,but the HUD didn’t like it because it discriminated againsthearing residents. After two years of legal dispute with theApache ASL Trails officials, the HUD gave up.

— Paralympics treats deaf like second class citizens?

The International Paralympic Committee always wanted tocontrol the Deaflympics. We have refused because we areable bodied, and that we are able to compete with hearingathletes on equal terms. The most recent Paralympicstook place in 2012 in London. Past Deaflympics presidentCraig Crowley, who is deaf, told the BBC Sportshourpeople during a TV talk show interview that deaf were treatedlike second class citizens during that 2012 Paralympics.This accusation was quickly denied by the Paralympicsofficials, but DeafDigest thinks Crowley was correct.